Talk of India opening Dumbur gate is just ‘misinformation’: Tripura minister

The heavy rain in the area caused the water to overflow the dam on its own, says Tripura Power Minister Ratan Lal Nath

Tripura Power Minister Ratan Lal Nath has dismissed the claim that India’s opening of a dam gate without warning is what led to horrific flooding in Bangladesh.

“If they want to follow the proper procedures and cross the border into India, I will take them to the Dumbur Dam myself to show them that it is not correct that we opened the gate,” he told BBC Bangla.

“They can see for themselves whether we can open the gate ourselves! Whether such a thing is even possible!”

Bangladesh’s social media users have been circulating claims that a dam at the Dumbur Hydro Power Station in Tripura was opened in India, which led to the devastating floods in Bangladesh. Several leaders of the Anti-discrimination Student Movement have said that the opening of the Dumbur Dam on the Gomti River is what has led to the disaster.

Amid widespread discussion and debate on social media, a protest against India was held at Dhaka University.

The matter came to the attention of the Indian government, leading the country’s Ministry of External Affairs to release a statement saying: “The idea that the floods in Bangladesh are caused by the opening of the Dumbur dam are not factually correct.”

Citing the Tripura state government, BBC Bangla says the Indian state is seeing the worst flooding in three decades. The state’s Gomti district has been hit particularly hard.

Different media outlets in Bangladesh have reported that the opening of the Dumbur sluice gate in the Gomti Hydro Power Station caused widespread flooding in Bangladesh.

But Tripura Power Minister Ratan says: “The propaganda being done about the opening of the Dumbur gate is nothing but misinformation. No gate has been opened at the Gomti Hydro Power Station.”

“The maximum storage capacity of the power plant reservoir is 94 metres. When the water level rises above that level, it automatically exists through the gate. Once the water level drops, the gate closes by itself.”

He said, “As the water level exceeds the maximum holding capacity, the water is coming out through two gates at the reservoir. Through one of the gates, the water is coming out at a ratio of 50 percent. The people in the concerned area were alerted about the situation in advance through megaphone announcements.”